Another batch of book review clippings

The 10 Best Books of 2005; a rave review of Music Through the Floor, a short story collection by a new writer I hadn't heard of before; a review of a novel called Home Land; an essay, Truth is Stronger Than Fiction; a review of Jesus and Yahweh by Harold Bloom, written by a former student of the author; and a review by David Leavitt of the Norton Anthology of Children's Literature. Leavitt writes:

Writers as diverse as E. Nesbit, Beverly Cleary and Roald Dahl have in common a remarkable immunity to the tyrannies of so-called seriousness that too often hobble the efforts of their adult counterparts. Rereading them here, I was able to rekindle some of the undiluted joy I got out of their work when I was a child. I also remembered that literature is not, as it is sometimes regarded today, a kind of immense vitamin, good for us if difficult to get down. It must also have a wild and vital flavor - of giant peaches, green eggs and ham, the gingerbread from which witches construct their houses.

Authors of adult fiction would do well to take a (thin) page from this estimable, erudite and enjoyable anthology, which reminds us how much pleasure matters in reading, for grown-ups as well as for children.